If the stream of visitors to auto dealerships in Wuhan is any indication, the recovery of the car business in China and perhaps the world could be rapid.
Companies in the city of 11 million, the original center of the coronavirus and the first to be sealed off, have been gradually opening their doors; officially, the lockdown there was lifted Wednesday. The strength of pent-up demand took some car dealers by surprise, with daily sales now running at levels seen before the economic freeze.
"I was pretty shocked,” said Zhang Jiaqi, a sales representative at an Audi AG dealer in the Wuchang district of Wuhan, which is now recording purchases matching year-earlier levels. "It’s like a boom after a two-month dormancy. I thought sales would be frozen.”